Comic Review: Bee & Puppycat #4

 

Spoilers Below

This issue seems slightly different from previous issues. Considering this is Bee & Puppcat, I’m not particularly surprised. There is no “main story” this time around. Instead, we are treated to six separate mini-stories. Each of them are special in their own B&P way.

First up is “A Nice Day Off” Part 2. In issue 3, Bee and Puppycat were about to go on a picnic but they had to build a kite first. This issue shows them building their kites and heading off to the park. Due to the brevity of this half (it is only 4 pages long), we are left feeling a little unfinished. Sure, the typical jokes are still there but it feels like the story should be longer.

The second story is “The Package.” Also clocking in a four pages, we see how lazy Bee truly is. She has missed the delivery of a package and she has 15 days to pick it up. Of course, she waits until the very last minute. There isn’t a whole lot going on here. I hope that the next couple of stories are more interesting.

In “Plantsapalooza,” Bee sees an infomercial for plants. Insisting that she does not want to be crabtastic, she runs to the closest garden shop to pick up some plants. Since she has no money, she ends up digging three plants out of the dumpster in the back. One of the plants is already dead, one is a stick with a single leaf attached, one is actually a pot of dirt, and one is a lovely cactus. Bee forgets to water the plant, effectively killing whatever was left of the dead and stick plants. The cactus, however, has not died. She lovely sets it by the window, where it starts to flower.

At six pages, this is the longest story so far and it shows. “Plantsapalooza” feels a bit more like an actual B&P story and less like a barely cobbled together thought. I wish all of the stories were treated the same.

A quick one-page throwaway titled “Play The Game” appears next. Bee is playing a video game RPG with Deckard and Puppycat interrupts. Period. End of story. Disappointing.

Only two stories remain. The first of these is “The Perfect Sandwich.” As always, Bee is hungry. Originally, she was going to grab some candy but then Puppycat pointed out that it is lunchtime. So they head to Deckard’s refrigerator to make a sandwich. Sadly, Puppycat does not know how to make a sandwich. Bee teaches him how to make The Perfect Sandwich. I don’t know that those ingredients would really make the perfect sandwich but apparently both of the main characters think it is delicious. I’m curious but I don’t think I actually want to eat it. Volunteers?

Finally, we have “Hungry.” Yes, Bee is hungry again. Since she has no food and is too lazy to go to the store and too poor to order out, Puppycat goes to fetch food for his friend. He hires himself for his own mission and gets Bee the food she needs. Unfortunately for him, the hamburger he brings back has mayo on it, which she won’t eat. Poor Puppycat.

As a whole, this issue was fairly disappointing. The only good stories are “Plantsapalooza,” “The Perfect Sandwich,” and “Hungry.” While “Plants” was the longest story of the bunch, the other two were each only three pages long. It just goes to show that you don’t need a lot of pages to tell a good story. You just need a good writer.